The UN marked World Cities Day under the theme, ‘Better City, Better Life,' with global celebrations at the Expo 2015 Milano in Milan, Italy and around the world.
The Day aims to raise awareness of sustainable urbanization, including on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.
31 October 2015: The UN marked World Cities Day under the theme, ‘Better City, Better Life,’ with global celebrations at the Expo 2015 Milano in Milan, Italy and around the world. The Day aims to raise awareness of sustainable urbanization, including on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.
The Day’s sub-theme, ‘Designed to live together,’ emphasizes harmony and togetherness, to encourage making cities liveable spaces that promote inclusive prosperity, foster social inclusion and generate employment.
Urban design has the capacity to affect how people live, move around, and whether they feel safe, reflected UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Executive Director Joan Clos, explaining that urban form is “the skeleton around which people’s lives are built and activities carried out.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the Day highlighted that good urban design can help tackle climate change, reduce disaster impacts, and build sustainable, socially integrated and prosperous environments. He observed that urban development challenges are prominent in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, saying cities and human settlements have an important role to play across the Goals. He highlighted the third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) taking place in 2016 as an opportunity to agree on a New Urban Agenda to harness the forces and power behind urbanization for the common good.
Local governments from around the world launched a message, ‘Local Governments moving towards the New urban Agenda.’ The message recognizes the opportunity to transform cities into inclusive, resilient, safe and sustainable places.
The World Bank Group (WBG) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) highlighted their Sustainable Cities Program, which engages 23 cities in 11 developing countries to promote inclusive, resilient and sustainable urbanization, including through inclusive, evidence-based planning.
The Day represented the culmination of ‘Urban October,’ which began with World Habitat Day and encouraged reflection on a new, urban and transformative agenda, and featured several events on urban issues. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) established World Cities Day in 2013 to promote urbanization successes and address challenges resulting from urbanization. [World Cities Day Website] [UN Press Release] [UN-HABITAT Press Release] [UNRIC Press Release] [UN Secretary-General’s Statement] [ICLEI Press Release] [ICLEI Press Release on Urban October] [GEF Press Release] [GEF Sustainable Cities Website] [World Bank Feature on Cities]